NHS Price Comparison Tool Saves £288 million

UK NHS Improvement has announced that “Trusts across England saved £288 million in the last financial year by securing the best deals for commonly bought items, such as syringes, disposable gloves, loo roll and shoe covers.” A price comparison tool allows Trusts to view the most expensive and cheapest options for over one million products and it sets a benchmark for each product to help them avoid paying more than they need to. “Trusts are able to compare how much their neighbours have paid for commonly purchased items and negotiate the best deals with suppliers, and some trusts club together on some orders and buy in bulk,” it says. For many products, buying bigger is not always buying better, some might argue, but price benchmarking and increasing buyer knowledge has shown to work well in this instance. Training sessions have also been set up to help Trusts learn how to use the price comparison tool. Please email nhsi.procprogramme@nhs.net to sign up. And read more here.